Criminal barristers will withdraw service nationwide again today, in the third of three days of withdrawal this legal term. In county Tipperary, Barristers will protest at Clonmel courthouse – one of 11 courthouses across the country where protests are planned for today. The protest is set to run from 10am to 1pm.
The Council of the Bar of Ireland says there has been no progress to resolve the dispute despite correspondence with An Taoiseach, Simon Harris, the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, and Department of Justice officials. The industrial action is being taken in response to a continued lack of progress on the restoration of fee cuts imposed during the financial crisis over a decade ago. These three days of protest in July is an escalation on the previous day of withdrawal which took place in October . At that time the government ordered a partial restoration of 10% of fees in Budget 2024. However, the full range of FEMPI-era cuts that were applied across the public sector, continue to apply to the profession, and the unilateral breaking of the link in 2008 to public sector pay agreements has yet to be restored. The barristers are frustrated because as far back as 2018 a Government report stated that the fee restoration was justified, given the reforms and flexibilities provided by the profession.
